1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to buoyancy compensators for scuba divers. More particularly, this invention relates to buoyancy compensators comprising a vest fitted about the diver's torso for supporting a air cylinder and a bladder section connected to the back section of the vest for inflation with air from the air cylinder to achieve neutral buoyancy during diving.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently there exists many types of buoyancy compensators designed to allow a scuba diver to achieve neutral buoyancy during diving. The earliest types of buoyancy compensators consisted of an inflatable bladder positioned in a life vest to be slipped over the diver's head and to lay against the diver's chest. An oral inflation tube was provided to orally inflate the buoyancy compensator to achieve neutral buoyancy during diving. As illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,898,705 and 4,000,534, further improvements included providing a power inflater which inflated the bladder with air from the air cylinder. Unfortunately, life-vest styled buoyancy compensators tended to ride up the diver's chest and obstruct the diver's view and freedom of movement. To overcome this disadvantage, improved buoyancy compensators positioned the inflatable bladder in a backpack vest so that the vest, when inflated, would not obstruct the diver's view or freedom of movement (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,263).
As shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,523,914, 4,778,307 and 4,810,134, another approach to minimizing the obstruction of the diver's view and freedom of movement included constructing the bladder in an integral suit-vest configuration with the bladder extending smoothly throughout the front and back sections of the vest. However, unlike backpack-styled buoyancy compensators, suit-vest configurations do not include a replaceable bladder that could be replaced in the event of damage or deterioration.
Currently, backpack-styled buoyancy compensators have been widely accepted in the trade and have been further improved to include a separate vest for fitting about the diver's torso to support the air cylinder and a bladder assembly connected to the vest. U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,589 illustrates one specific backpack-styled buoyancy compensator. In another, such as the one manufactured by the assignee of this invention, the separate vest further includes a cumberbund for a more comfortable fitting about the diver's waist.
Unfortunately, in all of the backpack-styled buoyancy compensators known to applicants herein that employ a vest for fitting about the diver's torso, the vests are manufactured in limited chest sizes (e.g. small, medium & large) and the only way for actually adjusting the vest to accurately fit the height of the diver's torso is by means of the adjustable shoulder straps. Thus, it can be readily appreciated that a tall diver with a thin waist and a stocky diver with a large waist may have the same chest size, but would preferably be fitted with a tall or torso-length vest and a short or torso-length vest, respectively. Hence, there exists a need in the market for a backpack-styled buoyancy compensator having a vest that is adaptable to tall, medium and short torso lengths.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the buoyancy compensator art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a buoyancy compensator for supporting a air cylinder to the back of a scuba diver, comprising in combination a vest to be worn about the diver's torso, the vest including a back section for supporting the air cylinder, a waist band section having left and right side portions for removably affixing about the diver's waist, a shoulder section for removably affixing over the diver's shoulders comprising a horizontal portion, left and right shoulder portions extending substantially perpendicular from the horizontal portion, and means for removably fastening the horizontal portion of said shoulder section to an upper portion of the back section; an inflatable air bladder assembly fillable with air from the air cylinder; means for interconnecting the vest, the bladder assembly and the air cylinder; means for connecting the waist band section to the back section; means for removably interconnecting the left and right side portions of the waist band section about the diver's waist; and means for removably interconnecting the left and right shoulder portions of the shoulder section to the left and right portions of the waist band section, whereby, the shoulder section may be replaced by another shoulder section of a different torso length so as to provide a comfortable fit of the vest to the height of the diver's torso.
Another object of this invention is to provide a buoyancy compensator as set forth hereinabove, wherein the means for removably fastening the horizontal portion to an upper portion of the back section comprises complementary hook and loop fasteners, one rigidly secured to the upper portion of the back section and the other rigidly secured to the horizontal portion of the shoulder section for removably fastening together.
Another object of this invention is to provide a buoyancy compensator as set forth hereinabove, wherein the hook and loop fasteners are each formed in a strip with the strips being sewn to the upper portion of the back section and to the horizontal portion of the shoulder section.
Another object of this invention is to provide a buoyancy compensator as set forth hereinabove, wherein the strips extend across the width of the upper portion of the back section and across the width of the horizontal portion of the shoulder section.
Another object of this invention is to provide a buoyancy compensator as set forth hereinabove, wherein the means for removably fastening the horizontal portion of the shoulder section to an upper portion of said back section comprises complementary belt and buckle fasteners, one rigidly secured to the upper portion of the back section and the other rigidly secured to the horizontal portion of the shoulder section for removably fastening together.
Another object of this invention is to provide a buoyancy compensator as set forth hereinabove, wherein the belt fastener is rigidly connected to the upper portion of the back section and the buckle fastener is rigidly connected to the horizontal portion of the shoulder section.
Another object of this invention is to provide a buoyancy compensator as set forth hereinabove, wherein a plurality of the complementary belt and buckle fasteners are rigidly connected to the upper portion of the back section and to the horizontal portion of the shoulder section.
Another object of this invention is to provide a buoyancy compensator as set forth hereinabove, further comprising a cumberbund for affixing about the diver's waist and means for removably connecting the cumberbund to the left and right portions of the waist band section of the vest.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.